If found.. [Symmy! then open?]

[switchblade]

There was nothing quite like the warmth of beach sand underneath tired muscles after a long day, M’vorn mused, his long limbs lying languidly atop the sun-warmed stretch of coast, soaking in the wealth of heat before the onset of evening stole it away. Judging by the slow, deep breathing of his vivid blue lifemate who was stretched out in a similar pose, he was going to guess the napping Byrith probably would have agreed with him, had he been conscious. Getting back in the swing of things was rough alright, but there seemed nothing more rewarding to the sandy-haired boy than simply doing what a dragonrider ought to have been doing. Once he’d been okayed with a clean bill of health, he’d been put in as a substitute on the Cyclone Wing wherein he and Byrith had been attending training drills in preparation for battling Thread ...and he couldn’t be happier. Where did anyone get the idea that kidnaping weyrlings, doing drugs and involving them in lewd games was the way for dragonriders to behave, anyway?

He was, of course, referring to his time in captivity at High Reaches. Back when he’d first returned, it had been hard to talk about. Nowadays though, he could smile and say “At least I got over my shyness”, when asked about his time there, only because he’d had the time to reflect upon how truly lucky he’d actually been. They hadn’t been cruel there ... just misguided and ... well ... odd. The worst had been the drugging and the withdrawal symptoms to be contended with afterward. Even now, after not having touched the stuff for quite some time, he felt a certain craving for the topsy-turvy inebriation. Anything with that strong an allure just couldn’t be healthy for a person. He wasn’t bitter about the time he’d been duped into spending there; that just wasn’t within his nature. On the other hand, he was embarrassed and annoyed that now he and Byrith had to work twice as hard, just to get themselves up to par with everyone else.

After roughly a turn wasted on that crazy place, he was frankly surprised the both of them weren’t worse off than they were. Smiling over at the dozing blue, M’vorn admired the beautiful glow his lifemate's hide had to it, before sitting up a little and squinting out at the water. Nosy had gone exploring earlier, which ordinarily wouldn’t have been such a problem. However, the little blue snack-stealing trouble-maker had been even moreso his namesake lately, getting into every mischief imaginable and that tended to worry M’vorn. Not so far off, he could hear the flitter’s distinctive shrill “chattering”, as though he were holding some kind of conversation with someone. Looking around though, he didn’t see Nosy...

Just as he was starting to get antsy wondering what the flitter had gotten himself into this time, a blue blur streaked across his immediate line of vision. A triumphant trill sounded (a little too loudly) in his ear as the flitter dropped something into his lap and then landed upon his shoulder delicately, his long, thin tail wrapping around M’vorn’s neck loosely. Arching an eyebrow in suspicion, the bluerider inspected the random gift, meanwhile Byrith merely exhaled slowly, somehow managing to convey mild botheration concerning his interrupted nap despite a lack of actual commentary. The deposited item was a pouch of some sort, made from thin, but strong leather. Well-made, he noted, turning it this way and that. The stitching was discreet - almost artfully so. Tilting it to the side caused quite a bit of sand to come pouring out, almost making him wonder if the thing had been buried under the sand. But why did Nosy have it?

“You didn’t take this from anyone, did you?” he asked flatly, his tone a teasing one. With a snort and a huff, Nosy squawked indignantly in his ear, clearly not seeing the humor, setting M’vorn’s ears to ringing painfully. Alright. So maybe he’d deserved that. With a little sigh, he looked back down at the pouch. Sewn into the very top inside edge were the words:

“If found, please return -”

M’vorn read the words out loud, blinked, then searched for any elaboration on that and found ...nothing. Wait, what? Shouldn’t there have been a name? Why was there no name? Had there maybe been a name originally and the stitches had gotten pulled out? No, there were no holes in the leather where the needle might have gone. Hmm. Odd. So what now? Was there something inside that might indicate to whom it ought be returned? A thorough search of the pouch produced various odds and ends, but nothing that might point out an owner. Utterly vexed, the young man turned pleading eyes to his Byrith for help.

The sleepy blue drew in a deep, relaxing breath and released it slowly. My, the beach was relaxing. A swim would be good, if he could manage to get himself moving in that direction. A bath would be even better. Mmmmm bath... Oh, wait. Something was going on now, yes? Groggily, he opened his multifaceted eyes, currently whirling in contentment, and regarded His with an air of playful observation. His hadn’t asked the question, but Byrith knew what he wanted anyway. Pleasantly enough, he offered his lifemate a gentle wiggle of the tail, indicating that he hadn’t heard anything in his frequent eavesdropping forays about a lost article of something or other lately. Maybe the owner wanted it lost? That swim was sounding better and better... Raising his head just a little, he turned his gaze very directly at the water, then back to M’vorn.

Oh, so that was the way it was? Well, M’vorn couldn’t say he blamed his lifemate. A swim did sound like a better activity than running around the weyr all night trying to return a lost pouch. Still, returning it was the right thing to do. So that was what he would be doing with his evening. Joy.

“Well, then. Do some swimming for me, too?” he asked softly, his tone a little reluctant, showing just which activity he’d rather be taking part in. Byrith stood up, giving his whole body a little shake, before making for the water with barely contained excitement. It went without saying that Byrith would indeed do enough swimming for the both of them - and then some.

Nosy chirped gleefully as M’vorn stood and brushed himself off, pouch in hand. It was an adventure! He was coming, too! Determined to do his part, the flitter took to the air and swiftly located the nearest person he could find. There, see? Chattering animatedly, the little blue flitter hovered over the head of this newfound person who might help. You know. Just in case M’vorn didn’t have eyes in his head or something.

“Please pardon the intrusion,” he began apologetically as he rushed up after Nosy, thankful when the hyper flitter found something shiny in the sand to entertain himself with. “Would this happen to be yours?” He held up the pouch for the other person to see, his voice soft and his tone somewhat hesitant. Alright, so he wasn’t as shy as he used to be, but he still wasn’t much of a people-person.

If he were anyone else, this mission might have a quick, happy resolution. But being that this was M'vorn, the simple task of returning this lost piece of property to its rightful owner was certain to be nothing less than a comedy of errors...



OOC: This is the first post I've made in mooooonths..! I'm sorry for the suckages! ;_; Uhm! I can't decide who, so bring in whoever you'd like~ <333

[glamourie]

Ugly winged dunghead GO'WAY!

The protest came not from the emerald green sprawled out on the beach, her hide glinting like a finely polished gemstone. For once, Calistoth was silent, stretched out to her longest; she was contentedly away from the Weyr, away from them, the others who would look at her. From the slight glow of her hide, it was doubtless that she would be Rising soon. She was grouchy, and wanted to be left alone - and, unfortunately, was not getting her wish. Despite that, she had one wing stretched over her face to hide her eyes from the glow of the sun and was resting, though not asleep. Not asleep by a longshot. And the glow of her hide was not intense enough to signal her rising yet. She had another few days left to go. For a green, Calistoth's pre-flight glow lasted a ridiculous amount of time... although only those who knew her well would be able to tell a difference, both in her demeanor and in her coloring. She always looked close to flight.

Her complaining counterpart, on the other hand, always had a metallic sheen, although it leaned closer to red. Showoff was a bronze salamandyr, but there was enough bloody tones to his hide to make him look closer to copper. For a 'mandyr, he was on the large side, and definitely noisy. Nosy had his full attention and the salamandyr scurried back and forth in the sand, chattering up at the firelizard in fury. His frill was widely flared, displaying prominently in threat. That ugly blue winged thing was going down.

NOT WELCOME! And the ugly blue thing had a shiny. Hissing avidly, Showoff threw himself onto Nosy, clinging with his forelegs in defiance. Is mine is mine is mine ugly is mine you give go'way is mine!

Anything that K'lir might have had to say to M'vorn was cut off before he could start. The greenrider threw himself onto the firelizard and salamandyr pair, angling to snag the smaller of the two to prevent a fight. He heard speaking but it was a distant sound in the back of his mind, the question going unanswered. It took care to avoid crushing them both beneath his weight, but he managed well enough, and grabbed Showoff before he could do any lasting damage to the firelizard. The salamandyr was quite hell-bent on being a troublemaker, and he chattered angrily; but he had what he wanted, the shiny that the firelizard found. K'lir scowled and held him firmly before looking apologetically at the blue firelizard who -- looked... startlingly... familiar....

"I'm sorry for him," he said, speaking to the firelizard, then turned to give Showoff a nasty look. "You are going to get yourself fed to Calistoth if you keep this up. Do you realize how many times I've had to apologize for your behavior in the past few months? It's very irritating and you're blatantly inconsiderate. You could try, you know, not stealing. That firelizard did nothing to you. Do you see her? Do you?" He held Showoff over toward Calistoth (still neatly oblivious to M'vorn) and scowled. "She will eat you if you don't stop --"

No I won't. That little monster is rather entertaining. It keeps teaching Minoath's worm bad words, Calistoth replied cheerfully as her eyes opened and swirled in pleasant shades of blue and green. She picked up the word 'worm' from S'rei, perhaps unfortunately. And her dislike of Minoath was legendary. Anything that caused him or His discomfort was enough to please her beyond words. Unfair or even mean? Was that even unusual for Calistoth? No. But Showoff teaching that profane little worm more nasty words pleased her endlessly and she'd even begun to help, filtering out choice words from K'lir's mind to teach to the salamandyr at her leisure. They had formed an unholy alliance against Minoath's bonded. By the way, there is a person standing behind you. You might want to acknowledge him. I think he belongs to the firelizard that the little monster was trying to kill.

Startled, K'lir abruptly spun around only to be confronted with -- a curtain of brown hair. Brown hair that was familiar. Mavorn? No. M'vorn. He remembered him, though, from the days when they were both candidates. He was one of the ones who had gone to High Reaches. M'vorn. A bluerider. The thought made Calistoth regard M'vorn seriously, with no small amount of pleasure in her eyes; she did so like her blues. K'lir ignored her and stammered quietly, "I - sorry - what did you say? - I'm sorry; Showoff isn't normally this bad mannered --"

ROOTSUCKER! Evidently, yes he was.

[switchblade]

One moment he was trying to ask about the lost pouch Nosy had found and the very next, the beach sands exploded into a furious flurry of angry chattering and agitated chirps of the loudest degree. Whatever he’d been saying or going to say was completely lost in the surprise chaos that had ensued. Nosy’s wings were beating so hard and fast for a few breaths that he hadn’t even caught the source of the blue flitter’s sudden issues. Then he saw ... the ... little ... Salamandyr? He’d seen them around, but hadn’t had any real contact with them up until now. Given the looks and sounds of the thing, with its fringe all out in battle-mode, he couldn’t really suspect that he was missing much. Not that Nosy was much better. He didn’t like confrontation for the most part and that little coppery-bronze creature was certainly looking for a showdown. All this for what? Something shiny?

They needed to separate the two, but the boy he’d been addressing had the situation covered. Literally. Bodily. He was doing his best to diffuse the state of matters by means of throwing himself directly into it. Following suit, the sandy-haired boy maneuvered himself around the mess, trying to keep Nosy from continuing the fight. Impressively, the smaller boy had wrangled at least the little one into some kind of submission by the time M’vorn had gotten a hand on the blue flitter, who was in firelizard hysterics, from the sounds of things. Honestly! He wasn’t being killed! Oh, but the panic was there, alright. As soon as he was free from the unintentional conflict, he slipped right out of M’vorn’s gentle hold and did a few laps in the air above them, chattering angrily all the while. The silly thing had gotten the shards scared right out of him!

It didn’t take him long to get the shock out of his system, finally coming to rest in the sand once again, his eyes whirling orangey-yellow. At least Nosy wasn’t blasting out their eardrums now. That was a plus. M’vorn hadn’t really gotten a good look at the other boy until now, when he made sure to apologize to Nosy for the whole incident. (Which wasn’t entirely the salamandyr’s fault the situation escalated, as it takes two to quarrel, but M’vorn kept that to himself.) Thinking on it, he knew that voice, that lithe physique. Yes. He’d been rescued from some particularly vicious vines by him, back when they’d both been candidates. K’lir. The Hatching. That all seemed like ages ago. His eyes slid to the emerald green dragon appreciatively, taking in the sight of her all stretched out on the beach, her hide with its lovely polished sheen as the light hit it just so. Calistoth. Really, she was magnificent. Though nothing was said, he did get the certain sense that some water-frolicking blue dragon somewhere agreed with him on that one. Oh my.

Back to Nosy, despite the still-orangey shades in the little blue’s whirling eyes, it seemed the apology had helped things. The panic was fading now. He gave a few sharp little conversational chirps in reply, his eyes on the salamandyr, as though he feared the little creature would suddenly sprout wings and come after him again with a vengeance. He wasn’t about to take any chances! But he wasn’t going to hold it against K’lir, either. After all, it wasn’t his fault the little crazy thing was crazy. Nosy liked K’lir. That little thing could go ahead and get fed to the pretty green, though. No complaints from Nosy there.

“It’s alright." Rootsucker? That was a new one to him. Blinking slowly, M'vorn tilted his head to one side slightly as he regarded the 'mandyr with quiet amusement. It took quite a bit to ruffle the bluerider's feathers, it seemed. They certainly projected quite a bit, didn't they - the salamandyrs? Or was it just Showoff? Maybe it was because M'vorn and Byrith were so quiet together, but he wasn't really accustomed to being talked at in quite that way. Wow.

"These things happen. Does he pick up on a lot of words?” he asked in sincere curiosity, taking no offense to the name-calling, whoever it was aimed at. Meanwhile, he was checking over Nosy for any scrapes and rubbing his little eyeridges delicately to soothe him. So far as he could see, there was nothing that could be harmful to the little firelizard, although he would need a good oiling later. Hmm. What about the other one, now?

“Uhm... Showoff... he’s not hurt, is he?” Not that he thought Nosy would have actually managed to get a hit in edgewise, but you never did know. In general, the bright blue firelizard managed to avoid fighting with others, but then the little guy had been in a disagreeable mood ever since High Reaches. He should have been keeping a closer eye on him. Not that it would have ultimately helped anything. A flitter will do what a flitter will do - that’s par for the course.

Wait, what had he been saying before? “Oh! This...” In the scuffle, he’d managed to drop the pouch which had started this little adventure. Picking it up, he held the item in question up to K’lir, kneeling in the warm sand with Nosy as he was. In his usual soft, endlessly polite tone, he explained, “Nosy was poking around the beach and found this. We are looking for the owner, to return it. Is it yours by chance?”

Hey, one could hope.

[glamourie]

Rootsucker ugly no like you worm go'way, answered Showoff, before K'lir had a chance to. Never had he been shy, and that was not about to change just because one little bluerider took what he said in stride. He had one of the ugly winged things, and Showoff deemed that an unforgivable trait. The winged uglies were his enemies - especially the shiny ones. The loud one was blue, though. Showoff squirmed in K'lir's hands and frilled, his little wings (which were positively tiny and ill-suited for flight, though he could glide if he needed to) flicking animatedly against his pet's hands. Snarling in response to the squawking, he turned his attention back to Nosy, fully intent on either dominating the blue or destroying him. It didn't matter that he had the shiny shell in his claws (thus causing it to press roughly against K'lir's palm) or that he was being noisy. All that mattered was that the little blue ugly realized who was in charge. Yes, Nosy trumped Showoff in size by a lot. He was large for a salamandyr but that meant nothing compared to firelizards. Showoff didn't care. Size did not matter! He would not be defeated!

Wiggling, the salamandyr hissed at the ugly, then at the ugly's bonded, both warningly. His eyes whirled rapidly in his irritation and he flared his frill again. However, his pet had quite a firm grasp on him, a strong enough hold that despite his wriggling and the near-strangle hold his extraordinarily long tail had on K'lir's thumb, he did not manage to escape. That didn't keep him from broadcasting obscenities, however. Ugly winged go'way no like worm rootsucker no like you go'way!

A pale pink colored K'lir's cheeks and he sniffed indignantly, but gave up scolding Showoff. It was usually better to ignore him as he typically gave up when he didn't get attention. The little salamandyr was aptly named, as he adored being focused on - be it for scolding or simply because he was there. Compliments were preferred but negative attention was better than no attention at all. The best punishment K'lir could think of was to totally ignore the little bronze, which usually made him stop doing whatever he chose to do that was bad, and start sucking up in the form of rubbing his entire body against K'lir's jawline and throat in what was an undeniable show of affection. When viciousness didn't get him attention, affection always did. It was encouraged. Yes, Showoff was a clever salamandyr; he knew very well how to get what he wanted, and he was not above tricks to accomplish it. He was irritating by choice, not because he knew no better. Sometimes, K'lir would even swear the little creature had human-level intelligence. Or, okay, the same intelligence as a few people he'd met. Not that that was saying much.

M'vorn's question made K'lir smile slightly and he held Showoff up for the bluerider to see. The salamandyr snapped animatedly at M'vorn, clearly aiming for his nose, though he was far enough away that there was a very clear distance. His eyes whirled and he displayed at the bluerider before tucking his head down into the space between K'lir's hands. The movement forced the redhead to loosen his grip just enough to make a cavern of his laced fingers, for Showoff to make himself comfortable with the shiny. The stinging sensation in his palm told him he was probably either bleeding or close to it. He was hurting, but was Showoff?

"Oh, he's fine. He's a drama queen."

KING!

"Excuse me - King. He's a drama king," K'lir replied with a shrug and ignored the amusement coming from the sprawled out green next to him. She could make it less obvious she found the whole thing funny. His temper flared, but self-control kept him from turning and yelling at her. Or M'vorn for inconveniencing him. It wasn't the bluerider's fault that his firelizard hadn't seen Showoff - or that Showoff was such a nuisance. He blamed that more on himself than anyone else. But Calistoth was close to flight, which meant his temper was a lot closer to the surface than it usually was. K'lir was moosy to begin with. Adding a proddy green to the mix was rarely a good choice. "He's always pretty talkative. He likes insults, but he can make a point very well. I think only Kalierre's Lust and Uu'n's Dael --" Daelmine! "-- rival him in terms of eloquence. He doesn't usually bother, though. Pretends to be less clever than he is, this one."

The little pouch had his attention and he leaned forward to examine it thoughtfully. No, it wasn't his. "I've seen that before, but it's not mine. I think it may belong to one of the healers, as last time I saw it, it was in the infirmary. You might go in and ask if anyone knows who it belongs to." He shrugged slightly, then glanced at Calistoth again. Her third eyelid fell shut; she was asleep. Typical. No help from her.

"So. When did you get back?"

[switchblade]

Up to that moment, Nosy hadn’t realized the little bronze thing in K’lir’s hands also had wings. That was, until he started moving them. The second the little blue got sight of that, paired with the flailing and the obscenities, he squawked (as though all his worst fears had just come true!) and was gone. Showoff: 1, Nosy: 0. He'd been about to apologize for him again, then changed his mind. M'vorn had already done it once today - he was done. Whatever else the flitter got into was so not his problem.

Amusement suddenly washed over his mild embarrassment concerning the flitter’s behavior (thank you Byrith) and he had a little more trouble hiding a smile than usual. The vibrant dragon liked Nosy most times, but he did feel a tad satisfied today that the silly thing had gotten scared off. Served him right for interrupting his hard-earned nap. You’d think he could have just a little sympathy. But nope. M’vorn could hear him far off in the distance, splashing around, but he was carefully keeping his distance. He wasn’t really a social dragon, so that wasn’t much of a surprise. Given enough time, he’d probably find some little hollow in the rocks to curl up into. How he managed to squish himself into such little places was beyond M’vorn.

Despite the display of foul temper, there was something beguiling about the little guy, or so M’vorn mused. There was a lot of spunk in him, which he rather liked. He definitely didn’t intend upon getting too close to the little guy, though. If it was all the same to Showoff, he’d like to keep his extremities, please and thank you. The “drama king” thing almost earned a laugh from him - almost. His control was a little better than that. It was bad enough that he couldn’t stop smiling about the whole thing. He was really, reeaaalllllyyyy going to have to make it up to Nosy later.

“He’s the first I’ve met. Such a strong personality and beautiful coloration,” he remarked softly with an air of fascination. What could he say? He had a soft spot for the grumpy ones that shout obscenities.

So far as the pouch was concerned, he’d actually been expecting a lot less to go from. It didn’t surprise him that there would be more searching involved (as that was just his luck), but it could have been a lot worse. He could have been dropped into it with no leads at all. Although, he did feel a little bad that it was K’lir who had ended up helping him again. Surely the other dragonrider had to think him an incompetent mess by now.

“Ah, I see. That’s too bad...” He would have liked to do something nice for K’lir for a change. Instead of always causing trouble and getting rescued by him.

“Well, thank you for your help,” he replied with a respectful nod. He’d been all ready to be on his way and stop bothering the greenrider, when he’d asked his question. Conversation extended? It took a moment or two for his mind to wrap itself around the question. When did he...? Oh. Well. Yes. Of course K’lir would have known what had happened. Everyone must. With an absent-minded gesture, he pulled the hair back from his face, gray-blue eyes drifting off to the side in thought. Just how long had it been? It felt like just yesterday, but they’d been back longer than that. The days just kept flying by.

“A tenday ago, or so,” he replied in his usual calm, even tone. He tried tucking the thick waves back behind his ear, but there was too much to fit and it all cascaded forward again. He paid it no more mind.

“We were in the infirmary for a little while. They’d drugged me and hauled me off, the High Reaches recruiters did. Last time I ever let anyone bring me a drink. The first time in a turn that I’d truly come out of their drug-daze, I’d been feverish. Ill. Even after I got better, I pretended to be ill so they wouldn’t drug me anymore. After that, it wasn’t difficult to see who else was ready to leave and then do it. They never tried to stop us.” Sneaky? A little. But effective.

He shrugged lightly, gazing out at the water for a moment, lost in thought. How much did K’lir know about what was going on at High Reaches? Was this all common knowledge by now? Still. He paused to mess with the lacing on the bag, for lack of anything else to do. It wasn’t K’lir’s problem and he shouldn’t have been unloading it. “I apologize. I’m babbling again. Thank you... again.. for.. erm... well.. yes..”

Still babbling. And turning shades of pink. Good one. What was wrong with him, lately?? Did they take his brain and replace it with wherry dung while he was out at High Reaches, too?! Because he was strongly starting to suspect so!


OOC: I'm not actually sure how long it's been since they got back - I was just filling something in.. if it's way off, just let me know and I can change it. ;o;

[glamourie]

Oh, hey, the ugly thing was complimenting him. Showoff turned his attention to the flying nuisance's pet and flared his frill animatedly for a moment, hissing, before he finally relaxed. The ugly was gone, which meant that he'd won, and as long as he won, Showoff was generally happy. The fact that he was the center of at least one person's attention also made his entire tantrum worthwhile and he made no efforts to hide his pleasure, going so far as to make a low, purring noise. Beautiful, he'd called him. Showoff was definitely intelligent enough to know what that meant, and he grabbed the shiny in his mouth before squirming free of K'lir's hands, only to climb onto the back of them and hold it out for the smart-complimentary one to take. If he was going to compliment him, he deserved a shiny. He would be able to snag more for Dael another time. It wasn't as if Showoff had any trouble acquiring many, many shinies. (Read: He was fond of stealing.)

StupidWinged you take is yours good you good, Showoff proclaimed by way of explanation, his little eyes whirling. Yes, it was good because it had complimented him and obviously recognized how amazing he was. Showoff could appreciate it when others recognized his blatant superiority. But ah; he'd said he was the only one he'd ever seen. Which meant that he might change his mind. That would need to be remedied. Showoff flicked his tail, curling it around K'lir's thumb neatly. Remember me you remember me good.

Ignoring his salamandyr, K'lir offered M'vorn a slight nod of acknowledgment. A tenday, but in the infirmary, which explained why he hadn't seen him. As embarrassing as it was to admit, K'lir made a point to check out all of the blueriders and not just because he was a greenrider. He liked to... scope out the menu, see what was available. Blueriders were among his favorites, but K'lir usually preferred showing heterosexual men they weren't quite as straight as they thought they were. Evil? A little. He'd have loved to blame that wicked streak on his beautiful Calistoth but the honest truth was that it was all his own. He'd always been drawn to the ones who were most adamant that they preferred the fairer sex. Call him crazy but there was something delightful about showing him that he could do anything those girls could do aside from provide them with offspring, and most of the males he met didn't really want those to begin with.

The explanation that M'vorn offered, though, made his eyebrows nearly meet his hairline and he cocked his head to the side slightly. The movement made a long, blood-red wave swirl over in front of his face, a stark contrast to his skin. The last time he'd seen the bluerider, he was pale, gaunt and sickly. Almost two turns had passed since then and color was returning to K'lir's skin; he looked healthy and he'd gotten back to a healthy weight for his size, too. That wasn't all that much, true, but it was more than most would have expected, and he was confident enough in himself to know he looked better. Unlike M'vorn, who looked... downright sickly in a sense. Though, as he explained it, K'lir supposed he couldn't hold it against him at all.

"Drugs?" he inquired, glancing at the salamandyr. "When they came to my barracks room, they said they were forming a Weyr at High Reaches to get out of the war, since Fort refused to back out after D'loro and Kamerai's deaths. I remember them coming, and I remember thinking they were insane for believing I would leave my home willingly. I didn't know they were taking anyone by force, though..." His voice trailed off, and he lifted his free hand up to brush at a stray strand of hair, pushing it out of M'vorn's face. That one touch was more affectionate than it should have been and half-driven by how close to flight Calistoth was. He was tempted to run his fingers down the bluerider's jawline, but caught himself and let his hand fall to his side. "It's good to know they didn't try to stop you. It sounds like you had... quite an ordeal. The infirmary - did it help? Rawign's supposed to be really good with herbs; he might be able to help with anything like - like withdrawals. Like people have with fellis. What kind of - I shouldn't, that's none of my business. I'm sorry. I'm glad you're back, though. Do you want to hold him?" He indicated Showoff with his index finger, then cocked his head to the side slightly. "He bites sometimes."

[switchblade]

Astounding - absolutely incredible. The bluerider didn’t know whether to blink at the salamandyr in awe or laugh outright at the sudden change in attitude. When he had been speaking before, while he had noted the intelligence of the little bronze, he hadn’t taken into account just how far that understanding went. So, compliments were greatly appreciated, as evinced by means of the proffered shiny. How these frilled ones differed from flitters! Alright. His opinion had done a full turn-about since meeting this ‘mandyr. He acknowledged that. But he was positively enthralled. There was just no resisting that charm. Were they all this way, he wondered, or was it just this one who was so bright? And did they all have problems with firelizards, or was that just this particular situation because Nosy had happened upon him under such circumstances? If he asked all the questions he had now, they would be on the beach all night! Another time, perhaps.

With a courteous little nod to Showoff, M’vorn accepted the gift. “You are very generous. I will treasure it. Thank you.” Oooooh, Nosy was sooo not going to be pleased about this particular development. He didn’t even have to bring the shiny shell back to the weyr to know what kind of reaction seeing the thing would earn from the blue flitter. Well. At least until Nosy forgot about the whole ordeal. He was a lovey dear, but he wasn’t exactly known for his long-term memory. The blue would probably try stealing it for a few days, then forget about it. Probably. Hopefully.

Had he been the only one from Selenitas coerced into going to High Reaches? It was beginning to sound that way. This did not trouble him. In fact, he was glad for it. Others might have had a harder time with being taken without consent. Well, without his conscious consent. M’vorn either took it all in stride, or else he had detached himself so far from it all emotionally that he just didn’t feel anything about it. Which one it was, he couldn’t say.

“The last clear memories I could dredge up after sobering were of the conversation I’d had with them before everything turned ... hazy,” he explained with a delicate shrug. If nothing else, despite how half-starved and exhausted he looked, all the activity out there had done wonders for the gangly awkwardness he’d suffered from before. His movements were far more fluid now, as though he suddenly had muscle tone in places he’d not before - which probably wasn’t far from the truth. “There were two who had come to talk with me. They had been ... very persistent. Likely, because so many had turned them down already. I declined the invitation, but hadn’t been able to work up the courage to show them out and they took advantage of this. They insisted upon ‘explaining more fully over drinks’ and the next thing I knew ...” The rest spoke for itself.

“Mind, I have no way of proving any of this. It is only what I can remember and my intimate experience with the drug from which I draw my conclusions.” He sighed softly, a touch wearily. He might have preferred being dragged along kicking and screaming so that at least he’d have known exactly what had been said and done, but he doubted Byrith would have allowed for any of that. No, they had acted underhandedly, or at least, this was what he could deduce from what little clear memory he had of the initial venture to High Reaches.

“Under the influence of that herbal of theirs, it wouldn’t surprise me if they had persuaded me to agree. It plays tricks on the mind, the body. The stuff is highly addictive, as well. Not a good combination.” He had asked Byrith many times what had gone on and his blue lifemate simply sat in silence on the matter. Was it because that was a particular touchy subject for the dragon, or was it because he honestly didn’t remember, either? When two minds were linked so closely as that of a rider and dragon, what effects, if any, would a mind-inhibiting drug have? He just didn’t know. Maybe he thought about things too much and unnecessarily. Maybe he –

That light touch he’d never even seen coming brought him out of his musings, his pale gray-blue eyes widening a tad in a most unfamiliar fashion. He had been taken completely unawares ... and it showed. It was no small feat to rattle the calm boy, so easy-going as he tended to be. Although he did seem to have some very interesting preconceived notions concerning the way of things. In general, he saw himself as having been a source of nuisance to the greenrider in the past and had trouble thinking any differently now. He hadn’t thought he’d done anything of merit to deserve such a tender gesture from the other boy - this thoroughly disarmed him. It didn’t help that his body was so accustomed to what touch meant at High Reaches, that his mind was having trouble convincing his body that nothing had been meant by it. The contact had been friendly, perhaps even compassionate and that was all. Right? Right.

Thankfully, K’lir had retracted his hand at just about the time M’vorn’s knees had threatened to turn to the consistency of bubbly pie and topple him over out of spite. Ordeal... “It could have been much worse,” he replied softly, turning the shiny shell over in his hand, admiring the way the light reflected off the tiny ridges. “But it is over now and I am thankful for it. The infirmary was very good to me. I do still get symptoms, though.” And working through them as he had been was soooo not fun. “I may have to see him about that while I’m there.” Because up until then, he’d almost totally forgotten about the pouch he was supposed to be returning. Distracted. Oops?

K’lir’s half-question brought back the taller boy’s gaze. “What kind of–?” he repeated in that almost too-calm voice of his. What had he been about to ask? What kind of effects did the drug have? What kind of withdrawal symptoms did he get? “If I can answer you, I will.” Why? Even he wasn’t entirely sure. Probably because K’lir was among the few who talked to M’vorn and that alone seemed enough to endear him to the sandy-haired boy. That the greenrider had said he was glad M’vorn was back helped in that department, as well. Warm fuzzies, anyone?

Whoa! Hold the salamandyr?! His whole sharding face lit up. Talk about a kid in a room full of gather pies. “I... can? It’s okay? I’d love to, if he’s willing. Biting doesn’t bother me.” Nosy wasn’t exactly Pern’s most gentle and loving creature. M’vorn was sort of desensitized to scratches, hair-pulling and random nibbles by now. Oh, would the flitter ever be livid...

[glamourie]

It was highly amusing how taken M'vorn seemed to be with the little salamandyr - amusing and slightly disturbing, actually. Most people found Showoff a nuisance namely because he was; the little bronze took a sadistic glee in being impossible, particularly in the form of climbing on people and dragons in places where they could not dislodge him. Insults were common, as was biting, stealing and virtually anything else Showoff could do to attain attention. He wasn't particular about what kind. Screaming was just as good as affection, so long as he was the center of the focus, the one who everyone was paying their full attention to. K'lir was used to his antics, since he'd Impressed Showoff not long after Calistoth, but most others.... well, most others didn't think much of him. It was hard to like a creature who spat insults, bit, stole, and basically did everything in his power to be annoying. K'lir had the good fortune of being able to feel Showoff's emotions, so he knew what the little mandyr's motives were. Others didn't. M'vorn was a true oddity and K'lir couldn't help but be mildly entertained - entertained, and surprised.

Silently, K'lir listened as M'vorn spoke to Showoff and then answered his question. Two slender eyebrows raised, nearly meeting his hairline, and he cocked his head to one side in curiosity. He was polite enough not to interrupt M'vorn as he spoke and he mentally turned over the implications of what the bluerider said. So - the drugs, whatever they were, were coercive. That made him wonder what sort of place High Reaches really was. They'd all sounded so reasonable when they showed up before - talking about peace away from Fort, out of the war. If peace was at the cost of his senses, he'd just as soon do without and he was glad he did not agree to go. He had enough trouble dealing with Showoff Chasing Dael (which always spawned dragon-level runlust and ended with him and Uu'n getting exceptionally friendly) and Calistoth's flights. The thought made him glance over toward the green but she was sound asleep. The slight glow of her hide was imperceptible to most everyone but K'lir knew her well, he could tell when she was close to Flight; he could feel it, after all. No, he could barely handle being lost in sensations caused by his bonded's. Something else was... frightening.

Part of him was very tempted to wind his arms around M'vorn and hug him, meant comforting. That alone was the biggest sign of how close to flight Calistoth was. K'lir was not an affectionate sort by any means; he showed his fondness for others through insults and/or abuse. That he wanted contact that did not merit either term was a sure sign that something was up. He twitched, fingers fidgeting around Showoff, and deliberately chose not to reply. Talking about High Reaches seemed to make M'vorn slightly uncomfortable and K'lir was not inconsiderate enough to dig his metaphorical claws into what was clearly an open wound. So what if he was obscenely curious. He could find out soon enough. Part of him wondered though how many others had followed M'vorn back; surely he would find out soon enough. Calistoth's clutchmates were returning; would she be happy when she woke up and realized? ... Probably not. Somehow he doubted she'd care at all.

Forcefully pushing those thoughts from his mind (they were too complex and K'lir was typically a simple entity), the greenrider held his hands out toward M'vorn, closer, for Showoff to get a better view of M'vorn. "You've clearly never been bitten by a salamandyr but have at it. Mind that he's so much smaller than firelizards though - I expect if you're not careful he could be hurt. 'Mandyrs tend to be a little more on the fragile side, though Showoff is remarkably resilient. He's like a particularly bad vtol bug infestation, only able to talk and with a bad attitude. Honestly, how did I manage to Impress such an annoying critter?"

Ignoring his bonded, Showoff chose that exact moment to leap right out of K'lir's hands and cling to M'vorn's shirt before climbing his way up the bluerider's chest. He settled himself carefully on M'vorn's shoulder and made a low chirping noise before standing up on his hind legs. His forelegs rested against the bend of the bluerider's ear and he leaned forward to peek inside, as if he expected to find something interesting there. Hmm hmm hmm! Silly stupid give me all, he proclaimed before promptly climbing onto M'vorn's ear and hanging. His claws were rough, but it was unintentional. Often Showoff misjudged just how sharp those little razors were. Drop flying stupid get me babies pretty pretty you get worm? Showoff curled around M'vorn's ear, then trilled, his entire body vibrating. You come get me babies go byebye flying stupid. Yes yes yes.